Persona: Dream within a Dream
by BoredGuyWithIdeas
Summary: The next chapter of Persona, heavily inspired by the hit movie Inception. You've seen Tartarus and the TV World, but the next frontier will be the Dream World. Includes characters from P3 and P4, with a host of OCs as well. Read and Review please!
1. Prologue

Consider this fanfiction to be the love-child of the movie _Inception_ and the Persona series, primarily P3 and P4. I've made my own tweaks and stuff, but yeah. Got nothing much to say but read and enjoy! Comments and reviews are welcome.

* * *

**Prologue**

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm dreaming _right now?_"

"Absolutely."

"And why would this be relevant to the business at hand at all?"

"Well Mr. Saito, because the only way we can protect your most deepest, darkest secrets is for you to let us 'in.' The only way we can accomplish this is by stepping into a place where those secrets are floating around in your sea of consciousness. Or should I say unconsciousness?"

The Japanese businessman known as Saito crossed his arms. He had been spending the past 2 hours sitting on a very sleek table, with nothing but a lone clock sitting at the center of the table. Directly across from him was a woman dressed in very sharp business dress; she wore a white blouse with black pants that were matched with a dark jacket. Her dark-blue hair was mostly covered by a black cap that she wore in such a way to cover one eye, although her lone visible eye gave off more determination and intelligence than most detectives with two eyes. The one detail that caught Saito's eye was the fact that this woman wore a _tie _along with the blouse; he considered this to be an interesting juxtaposition of male and female dress. Nevertheless, the woman's demeanor kept him from making any criticisms on her outfit.

"Well then, Miss Shirogane, please do continue."

"Thank you, Mr. Saito. As you mentioned before, you had a very important piece of information that was monumentally important to your company. It was a tip you received from a very important friend, and you've even trained yourself to bury it deep within your subconscious."

Saito nodded.

"In fact, I should point your attention to these people and the place we are currently in. You recognize this casino-resort, correct? It's the newest one you've completed, and you just had your grand opening three days ago. However, do you remember what happened between your grand opening and today?"

Saito seemed puzzled at first. Once he started thinking about it, he sighed and shook his head.

"Do you remember how you got here?"

Saito took another moment to try to remember. Once he realized he couldn't, he raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"You see, Mr. Saito, most people can't remember how or when they begin dreaming. Most of the times it seems like it's another part of daily life. This casino-resort is constructed by your subconscious, and is the setting of your dream. And the people out there on the casino floor, outside of this conference room, and even throughout this building, are all a part of your subconscious.

"So they're not _real?"  
_

"They're projections of your subconscious, designed to protect information you've stored below your consciousness."

"How so?"

"You see, I have reason to believe _someone _is actively trying to steal your information...and they are somewhere in this dream _right now._"

"How are you so certain?"

"Because I am a special part of your subconscious designed to combat such intrusions. You see, the thief has been trained to invade your subconscious and plant a bit of himself in it. Take another good look at the people outside on the casino floor."

Saito looked through the glass window. The conference room held a vast view of the entire casino floor, where people were gambling regularly. They looked like regular people, except for one detail: they all were wearing colored masks. Saito did not see them before the meeting had started. The masks themselves were solid colors; Saito could pick out roughly three kinds of masks he could see, and he could faintly notice all of them had some type of roman numeral number on the forehead.

"You see, Mr. Saito, when your subconscious starts becoming more secure or aware of 'foreign invaders', they become a bit more hostile. These aggressive parts of your subconscious start donning these masks as indications, but the thief has disguised himself as one of these masked people."

"Really now?"

"Yes. You see, the thief is using this mechanism to his advantage because your subconscious would not try to question which masked person could be him; it would simply go into an endless cycle of questioning itself, rendering it useless."

"And you're not wearing a mask...but aren't you a part of my subconscious?"

"As I said before, Mr. Saito, I am a _special _part of your subconscious. If I were to behave in the same way as your regular subconscious, I wouldn't be much good, would I?"

"Ah, I see."

"I can safeguard the information for you AND capture the thief red-handed if you tell me the whereabouts of the information. I'm certain you must have it in a safe. Since there's no one in this room but us, not even your regular subconscious, you may disclose the information to me here and now, and I will investigate the location tonight; I'm sure the thief will strike quite soon. Your subconscious can't know about our role, since the thief may one of the subconscious, and will try to thwart us. He may even turn your subconscious against us. Thus, your subconscious must not know exact details about us...but even as I am telling you all of this now, your subconscious will slowly become aware of a foreign presence."

"How will this help?"

"You see, if your subconscious is aware of a foreign threat, but has no clue as to _who _it may be, it will start questioning itself, and it will go nowhere. The thief would not be able to act on his own without sticking out like a sore thumb, and _that's _where we will catch him."

"You know, I can't help but to think perhaps _you _are the thief, Miss Shirogane."

"With all due respect, Mr. Saito, if I were the thief I would have already stolen your information by now."

* * *

_Naoto's taking her sweet time in there...  
_

Kanji was leaning against the wall, right next to the door to the conference room. He was a bit surprised how comfortable he was wearing a very well-fit pin-striped suit. Naoto had suggested for him to wear a tie, but Kanji neglected to wear that entirely.

Normally he could be leaning casually, but he kept his stern, threatening face on, since he was directly across from two of Saito's bodyguards. Before the meeting started he didn't pay much attention to them, but once they had put on the masks, they began to eye them very carefully.

_So they got their masks on already, huh? Damn, Naoto's going for the 'Charlie Gambit'! This better work...  
_

No sooner after he finished that thought, Naoto and Saito came out of the door. She queued Kanji to bow to Saito as he and his bodyguards did the same. Afterwards, Saito prompted exited, walking back to his chambers. Naoto and Kanji made their way to their hotel room, silently passing by other masked people. They began to talk as soon as they got into the room.

"So could yah explain to me again why you're going for a point-blank shot?"

"Come now, Kanji, I thought I explained the gambit before the mission started."

Naoto elegantly took off her jacket and slid it onto a nearby chair. She loosened her tie and pulled out her pipe, lighting up for a quick smoke. After a couple of puffs, she sat down facing Kanji, who was casually sitting down on the bed.

"Yeah yeah, you said some mumbo-jumbo about freaking Saito out with some actual details about what's going on. After that...uh..."

"Yes, you're correct so far. By telling him _some _of the facts of the dream state, I've raised his subconscious's awareness to the situation. Once it accepts that it may be its own enemy and that _we _are the solution, we should be able to slip by their security."

"And then we nab the goods, right?"

"Well, without sounding too much like a juvenile thief...yes."

Naoto chuckled briefly while Kanji scoffed at the small jab at his ego.

"Alright then...so when are we cracking that safe?"

"Seeing as how our exit route will be open in about an hour, we should get going _now."  
_

Almost immediately Naoto and Kanji made the preparations. In a matter of minutes they had both changed into dark clothes and had equipped sneaking gear on. After a quick nod and a lock check on the door, they opened the window. Kanji threw down a rope while Naoto climbed down a few floors. Once she reached the target window, she used a silent window-cutting device to make a large, circular hole. Once it was complete, she swung and slid right in.

She stuck out a "thumbs-up" signal outside of the window, which gave Kanji the clear to climb down by himself. He tied the rope to one of the towel bars in the bathroom (which was firmly attached to the wall), and proceed to climb down the rope himself. He had a bit of an urge to yell "Cowabunga" and kick the window, but Naoto flashed him a look right before he could kick through the window and make a loud noise. Seeing that very serious and nearly terrifying look on her face, Kanji decided to silently go through the hole.

They had both arrived in another room, similar to the conference room in size, but all that was inside the room other than ornate pictures of Japanese warlords and tigers was a lone safe in the center of the room.

"No guards...everything is going according to plan."

"Yeah... so why do you look like we're in deep shit, Naoto?"

"Because everything is going _exactly according to plan. _My instincts tell me something is supposed to throw a wrench into our plans, but..."

"Whatever! Let's just crack this thing already!"

Naoto proceed to careful open the safe with the lock combination Saito gave her, while Kanji kept on lookout. Once the lock clicked, she slowly opened the safe and took out the note. Kanji couldn't help but also turn to look at the note. They both glanced through it, realizing it was indeed the information they needed.

"Excellent. Now that we have another clue, we're another step closer in catching the 'Comatose Killer.' Now we should hurry and-"

No sooner when Naoto whispered exit suggestions, the lights in the room came on. Naoto and Kanji found themselves surrounded by several bodyguards, armed with guns and donned in the colored masks. As they turned around, they saw a man with a special black and white mask holding Saito hostage. Saito had been tied up and his mouth was taped as well.

The black and white masked man clapped slowly.

"Interesting approach...directly alerting the patient so his subconscious would get all wonky...nice attempt, Miss Detective! Unfortunately you assumed I had the ability to merely pose as one 'person' in his subconscious. However, I must say that I have already infected his entire subconscious, so needless to say...ALL of it is _me. _Or you know, not really _me _but part of my subconscious that's invaded Saito's...well, you're smart enough to know the drill already._"  
_

"If that's the case...then Saito's subconscious is entirely..."

The man in the black and white mask threw a thumbs-up sign and made a bell sound.

"We have A WINNER! Yes, Miss Detective, dear Saito's subconscious is now consisted of my Shadows. And yes, in case you were wondering, Saito will still be comatose and you will be devoured by his subconscious...redone by me, of course. Thanks for playing!"

The man in the black and white mask swiftly pulled out a knife and slit Saito's throat, killing him instantly within his own dream. As soon as the body fell, the bodyguards all prepared to fire at Naoto and Kanji.

"Any last words?"

Kanji flipped the masked man off.

"Well said, Kanji. Now then, let's get out of here!"

Naoto pressed a button on her watch. All of the sudden an explosion opened a hole through the ceiling, momentarily blinding the bodyguards with the debris. They immediately opened fire, although blind-shooting. The bullets were hitting _something, _but they didn't realize until the dust cleared that Naoto and Kanji were protected by an armored motorbike. Kanji revved up the engine as Naoto held on tight.

"Smell you later, asshole!"

Kanji let off one more fresh insult before accelerate through the crowd of bodyguards. The duo burst right through several walls before going through the main hallway. The sounds of bullets whizzed right by Naoto's and Kanji's heads. Once they broke the main door down, they found themselves driving right through the main casino floor.

Almost instinctively Kanji swerved out of the way to dodge incoming lightning bolts. About five Bronze Dice were right on their tail. Naoto tried using her gun to shoot them down, the best she was doing was probably tickling them.

"I didn't expect actual Shadows to develop from Saito's subconscious...looks like the Comatose Killer really outdid himself this time!"

"HOW COULD YOU BE APPRECIATING THE BASTARD'S METHODS RIGHT NOW?"

"Sorry, about that, Kanji. Anyway, our exit should be right through the main door!"

"Got it."

Unfortunately for them, there was a mammoth Gigas-type shadow with a metallic body and red hair right in front of the door that was supposed to be their exit.

"Damn it! How much time we got until the 'kick'?"

Naoto looked at her watch.

"Twenty seconds."

Seeing as how the Gigas was standing right in front of the exit, Kanji and Naoto decided to think fast. Naoto aimed her gun for one of the tables in front of the path and shot two of the legs off, creating a ramp out of the table.

"Kanji, wait. Even with this speed I don't think the table could support all of our weight-"

"COWABUNGA!"

Without any regard to logic or gravity, Kanji rode the table-ramp and launched himself and Naoto into a collision course with the Gigas' face. In midair Naoto and Kanji leaped off the motorcycle in opposite directions. During the Gigas' confusion Naoto shot the motorcycle's gas tank. The erupting explosion blinded the Gigas as Naoto and Kanji landed gracefully. Well, Naoto landed gracefully; Kanji landed on his face.

"Ten seconds, Kanji!"

Naoto and Kanji belted to the door, trying to escape from the Shadows that were closing in on them soon, including the angry Gigas. Kanji ripped the door open, releasing a blinding light.

"And...NOW!"

Before the shadows could reach Naoto and Kanji, they were both immediately sucked into the bright light like a vacuum. The door shut tight, and locked with a resounding click.

* * *

Naoto and Kanji woke up next to the comatose Saito. They were in the hospital room where Saito was treated and kept alive through the machines. In addition to the hospital machines, Saito was hooked up to the same strange device as Naoto and Kanji. They both removed the wires that connected all of them.

"You guys 'bear-ly' made it in time! I was so worried..."

Teddie had been the one operating the device while Naoto and Kanji were infiltrating Saito's dream. He was not wearing the usual bear suit that his teammates were used to seeing in battle. He was still dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt, with his patented red rose where his heart was. He still had his odd hairdo and blue eyes, but he was always a bit teary-eyed from the recent dream missions, especially since each one was becoming more dangerous than the last.

The total time that elapsed in the real world was one hour; this was equivalent to one day (24 hours) in the dream world. Naoto and Kanji had spent roughly 6 hours setting up the meeting with Saito in his dream world and executing the heist, so only 15 minutes had passed in the real world. For Teddie, it was a very long 15 minutes.

"I appreciate the concern, Teddie, but we were able to obtain another clue, albeit we did it by the skin of our teeth."

"Yeah...it sucks we can't use our Personas like we did 10 years ago."

"Well, you guys were able to make it out alive, which seems good to me! I couldn't 'bear' the thought of losing you guys in there..."

Naoto chuckled slightly while Kanji groaned at Teddie's patented bear puns.

"True, if we would have been killed in Saito's dream world, we would have been prey to his infected subconscious. Whoever this Comatose Killer is, he's been much more proficient at invading his victim's subconscious and turning them into Shadows. It hasn't until recently been as serious as the Shadows we used to fight 10 years ago...but we don't have enough Potential anymore to do direct combat."

Saito's life meter had been beeping regularly while they were talking, but now it was slowing down. It slowed to a tick a few seconds, during which everyone looked at the meter. Once it stopped completely, everybody sighed.

"Damn...another one bites the dust."

"Unfortunately we weren't able to save Saito from the Comatose Killer...this makes three victims now."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Before Teddie and Kanji could make a quick scramble to clean up the equipment, Naoto held up her hand and stopped them.

"Come in."

When the door opened, a vert elegant young lady walked in. She was dressed in a blue jacket and a blue skirt, with navy blue high-heels to match. She kept a very serious, but deep look on her face. Her gray hair was very neatly done into a stylized ponytail.

"Good afternoon, Naoto. Kanji. Teddie. As you may know already, I am Margaret."

Naoto nodded.

"Yes, I had a memo from the woman herself that you were coming in. Even though the equipment is from the Kirijo Group, I assume you aren't here to find any faults, are you?"

"Not at all. I am here to inform you of a change in operations. The Kirijo Group has decided that there should be a new method designed for the missions concerning the Comatose Killer. I understand that you currently cannot use your Personas inside the Dream World, correct?"

Kanji chuckled.

"Damn, word travels pretty fast. Yeah, we figured that out a while ago already, but now the Shadows that the Killer implants in the victim's subconscious are a hell of a lot stronger now! We can't fight them like we used to."

"Yes, the Kirijo Group's analysts have calculated this phenomenon already, although the timing of the presentation of this information is rather...inconvenient, you may say. However, I am grateful that you two were able to make it out alive."

"Thank you Margaret, but I'm sure you understand Kanji and I can only go so far with merely our wits."

"Yes, which why I have come to inform you of the construction of the new team."

Margaret handed Naoto a folder marked "P5." Naoto flipped through it briefly, while Kanji and Teddie were peering over her shoulder.

"The Kirijo Group has decided that a new team should be designed to infiltrate the victims minds to search for clues, and if possible, also destroy the Shadows that infect the victims' subconscious. Analysts only have made projections, so it's not certain whether it is possible, but in light of other alternatives, perhaps it may be the best method to use currently. The new members should consist of people who have a high concentration of Potential. The five names of the people found through the system are in that folder. Also, my Master has worked with them to find the next Wild Card as well."

Naoto nodded carefully.

"I see. So then I suppose our job is to find the members for this new team?"

"Yes. I take it you read the main location for all of these members?"

Naoto smiled.

"Well, of course. It's been 14 years since I've been to Port Island. Do you remember that class trip, Kanji?"

"Hell yeah! Fun times. Although it says here the kids are located in the college university nearby that location."

Margaret nodded.

"Yes. The core members of Team P5, including the Wild Card, are all located at Gekkokan University."

**Prologue End**

**

* * *

**

**Notes:** Thanks for reading. Any positive/negative/constructive feedback is nice and highly appreciated. Actual chapters will come once I iron the details out; this story is going to be a bit more complex than what I've written before (that's what I get being inspired by _Inception_), so please let me know along the way if it doesn't make sense, or if some details/story elements aren't explained that well. Thanks in advance!


	2. Awakening

Here's the official start of the story! Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Awakening**

"Gekkoukan University. Established and completed in 2012 by the Kirijo Group, it has been home to several of Japan's top students and one of the high rated colleges in recent history despite being a bit over a decade old. Several of the wonderful attractions include...eh."

The young man closed the brochure and stuffed it in his bag. It wasn't that he didn't respect the university; in fact, it was his top choice to transfer to, and he was finally able to do so. He had been meaning to come back to Japan after traveling abroad, so he was quite fortunately to find a good Japanese school to get back into. Granted it was his second year in college, so he missed out on the natural excitement most freshman have their first year. He figured by now most of them have either gathered in their own circles, or they've locked themselves up playing MMOs, so being social may prove to be an actual challenge, but he never fancied himself as a social hermit.

"Heh, if this was a high school I'd probably get in trouble for not wearing a uniform...but it's a good thing this college doesn't have a school uniform."

Much like some of the colleges he saw in America, there wasn't usually an enforced uniform dress; certainly there were dress codes, but nothing too major. This meant that he could wear his black denim jeans instead of typical slacks. It also meant that he could his thin purple hoodie with his black jacket over it without much fuss. Since it was spring, he didn't feel like having the hood over his head; he wanted to enjoy the spring breeze with the cherry blossom petals flowing in the wind. If he had longer hair it would probably be flowing with the wind, but he had no complaints about his short dark hair.

"Even though it's orientation...I really don't like having this name-tag on. Well, it's a good thing they spelled 'Motou Chidori' correctly."

Motou had been following the other new students towards the auditorium. Most of them were freshman, and some of them were transfers, while the rest were exchange students. Either way he didn't recognize anybody, but that was how he liked it. He always thought half the fun of college was meeting new people, not knowing what to expect.

The reason he didn't like the name tags, however, was that he was noticing people were paying more attention to the name tags of the people around them than the actual person. Motou knew quite well Gekkoukan University was for the highly privileged, but it bugged him to see the kids here actively looking for the other "high class" families to figure out who was "worth talking to." This meant, of course, none of the high-class kids tried to greet him, and the other kids were too intimidated to try anything on their own. Before Motou could be social, they had already arrived at the auditorium, and were filling up the seats.

The president of the college came up to do his typical introduction speech. Motou gathered the gist of the speech within the first few seconds, so he spent the rest of the time daydreaming. He wondered what his classes would be like, and what kinds of people he would meet in Gekkoukan University.

After a good hour of speeches done by the president and the student body, the students were dismissed. Motou's first class happened to be right after the ceremony ended, so he briskly walked to his first class: Japanese Culture and History. It was in that class where he saw a familiar face.

"So how boring was the orientation ceremony, Motou?"

"It was fantastically inspirational! It's too bad I figured that out within the first five minutes...when the whole thing was an hour. Anyway, funny to see you hear already, Yuuta. I figured I wouldn't see my roommate during the school day at all."

Motou had moved in to one of the smaller dorm complexes near campus. It had the typical structure with two floors, girls on top (Yuuta enjoyed that particular detail). He was quite pleased getting paired up with Yuuta Minami. Motou liked his energy and general humor; that way they could share jokes and other nonsense.

Yuuta Minami was proud of the fact he was kind of a geek at heart. He sported his Phoenix Ranger Featherman R t-shirt proudly, along with his Super Mario Bros. 1UP mushroom keychain. His pants had a picture of Pacman eating several Ghosts in a straight line, and his shoes were custom-designed to having actual manga panels as designs on the laces and the leather. Motou wondered how Yuuta kept those shoes clean, but he would just end up trying to read the panels on his shoes. Yuuta also spiked his orange hair with gel to feel more like an anime character. He refused to wear contacts, though, so he kept his glasses as the final piece to his "look."

"Well Motou, it's a small world. Sort of. Oh, before class starts, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. In fact, here she comes!"

Yuuta waved at a young lady walking into the classroom. Motou thought she had a very genuine beauty to her; nothing spectacularly mind-blowing, but rather a sort of natural and honest look about her. She had long, silky brown hair, with about two pink hair clips keeping it in form. She wore a pink top with a brown skirt; nothing too fancy, but she made it work very well.

"Motou, this is my good friend Nanako Dojima. We both lived in Inaba for a while when we were kids. Believe or not her brother actually worked at the daycare I used to go to when I was a kid! Anyway, we didn't move into Port Island until last year, where we were both freshman here. And Nanako, this is my roommate and new friend Motou Chidori. He's not really into formalities, so you can just call him 'Motou.'"

"Ah, I see. It's nice to meet you, Motou-kun."

"Pleasure to meet you, Nanako-san."

"How do you like it so far here at Gekkoukan University? I've spent a year here already, but I always feel like I'm learning something new everyday."

"Well, you keep watching quiz shows everyday, Nanako, so I'm not surprised you're always telling me some kind of new info about random stuff."

"You never know when that kind of knowledge will be useful, Yuuta! Speaking of knowledge, here comes our professor..."

The students took their respective seats as the professor walked into the room. He quickly set up his items and passed out the syllabi to the students. Motou skimmed through it very quickly, basically looking at what was required for the class, how many exams/papers/projects there were, and the percentages for each part. Unfortunately this took much shorter than the explanation from the professor, so Motou decided to lay his head and his arms on his desk. He was conveniently positioned behind Nanako, who seemed to be listening to professor very closely, but was also blocking Motou quite well.

_Nap time..._

_

* * *

_

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Motou slowly opened his eyes to find himself sitting across a strange old man with a long nose, accompanied by a pale-skinned, gray-haired female assistant of some sorts. The room they were in was predominately blue, perhaps due to some combination of almost everything in the room being blue, or some powerful blue lighting. Motou didn't think too much of it, since he was more fascinated by the fact at the fireplace nearby burnt a blue-colored flame. From there he decided to stop trying to apply logic.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

The long-nosed man chuckled.

"This place exists _between _dream and reality. You are not the first guest we've had here before, but you seem to be one of the more...colorful people we've had."

"You mean I'm not blue?"

Even the assistant smiled slightly at that joke.

"Well, I suppose you can say something like that. My name is Igor. This is my assistant, Alexandria."

The young woman nodded towards Motou.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Now then, Mister Guest, you have been summoned here because you possess a unique ability...the ability of the 'Wild Card.'"

"Wild Card? I didn't know we were playing Uno! Do I pick a color or something?"

"I am not familiar with this 'Uno' you speak of, but please allow me to explain. The Wild Card allows the person to resonate with other people's subconscious quite easily. The subconscious is manifested in a power called 'Persona.'"

"Persona?"

"Yes. Quite literally it is the manifestation of your psyche; think of it as a mask you wear to combat life's challenges, big or small. Sometimes the challenges can come from perils of the outside world...or in special cases, from within yourself."

"Within myself?"

"Yes. I'm sure you are aware that the subconscious is a vast part of the human mind. What kinds of thoughts and memories lurk within the dark corners of the mind? Will you have the strength to look into the corridors of your own psyche? Do you have the ability to help others do the same? Perhaps even save them from their own thoughts? Their own_ dreams?_"

"I'm not trying to be rude, Igor, but I'll be straight with you; you're not leading me anywhere with these cryptic questions."

"Not to worry, young lad, I only brought you here because I already believe the answers to all of those questions are 'Yes.' Of course, your own actions will cement the accuracy of my answer."

Igor gestured to the table between them. Motou didn't notice it before, but there was a small notebook on the table. With a simple wave of his hand, Igor flipped open the notebook to reveal a small contract. It had a small statement at the top and a signature line on the bottom. The contract read:

_**I promise to take responsibility for all of my actions, no matter what end they may lead.**_

And that was all that was written.

_Usually I complain about contracts about being complex and long, but this thing is just as worse: vague and short!_

"If you choose to accept this power of yours, please sign this contract. Perhaps you may be able to save lives...even change the world. Or perhaps you may only desire to live a regular life in ignorant bliss. There is no correct way to choose...but you must choose, Mister Guest."

Motou took a few moments to think about the contract. Granted, if this were a video game he would have signed the contract right away. After all, the premise of most video games is to save the world and most of that junk, anyway. Yet he was absolutely sure he was a relatively normal person. True, he was social, but to able to "resonate with other people's subconscious?" He had no idea what this all meant.

_Guess I got to go with my gut._

Sometimes he believed in destiny, fate, and all of that jazz, and sometimes he liked to believe he was in direct control of himself. Most of the time Motou decided on the idea that there were some things he was in control of, and some that he wasn't in control of. He could not explain the feeling that he was getting, however. It was almost as if he knew that he was meant to sign this contract.

_No fine print...guess it wouldn't kill me to sign._

And with a quick flick of a pen, Motou entered his signature in all of his fancy cursive, and finished it off with entering his initials: MC.

"Excellent."

Igor waved his hand and closed the notebook.

"We shall meet again when you once again need my assistance. I wish you luck on your journey, and I look forward to your awakening. Farewell, Motou Chidori."

"Awakening?"

* * *

The sound of the bell served as his awakening. As he scrambled to quickly to look like he hadn't been napping the rest of the class time, he saw that the professor was too busy talking to other students to notice anything.

"Looks like I haven't made a horrible impression yet..."

"No, you haven't. Although I wouldn't recommend sleeping on the first day of class, Motou-kun. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?"

Nanako was well aware at Motou had been sleeping behind her. Although his snores weren't terribly loud, she heard the rhythmic breathing of slumber through the entire class.

"I guess my body hasn't gotten over jet lag as quick as I thought. I should be fine tomorrow, though, Nanako-san."

"That's good to hear. Anyway, I'll see you guys later; I have two more classes I have to get to."

"Geez Nanako, three classes in a row?"

"Yes, Yuuta, I have three classes in a row. That way I can finish my day early, and get started on work and other things."

"Man, I don't know where you get this kind of energy, Nanako. I got another class, too, and I'm about ready to nap twice as long as Motou, here."

Yuuta playfully nudged Motou.

"Heh, fair enough, Yuuta. Well you guys better head to your classes. I got about an hour before my next class, so I'm going to go buy a snack or something."

"Alright, we'll go on ahead. By the way, we should all grab dinner tonight! Maybe we can even hit up Club Escapade or something!"

"I hope you're not planning to get blasted on the first day of spring semester, Yuuta..."

"Of course not, Nanako! I'm planning to get blasted on the first _evening _of spring semester!"

Nanako rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"I suppose some drinks after dinner wouldn't hurt, but I'd be up for some evening festivities."

"As long as you're not as crazy as Yuuta here, Motou-kun, I suppose I wouldn't completely dread watching both of you."

Nanako and Yuuta left to go to their respective classes. Motou could still hear Yuuta talk about the kinds of drinks he felt like trying tonight, while Nanako was pondering about what kinds of new items the mall had for sale.

"Well, time to get some chow."

* * *

As Motou walked over to the campus' student plaza area, he began to think about the dream he had just had. Unlike most of his other dreams, he remembered the Velvet Room and everything else quite clearly. He repeated some of the questions Igor asked about "saving lives" and "changing the world." He wondered what it all meant, and what kind of power was the "Wild Card."

"Motou Chidori."

Motou snapped out of his thoughts to realize that a person was speaking to him. He had been walking past several benches, and the one he was next to currently had a person sitting in it. The woman looked like she was in her early late 20's or early 30's, but the way she was dressed gave her an elegant look of poise and maturity. Motou thought she looked pretty cool, sort of like a detective. To be honest at first glance he thought the person looked like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes with the cap and the tie, but the person gave off enough subtle feminine charm to establish her identity. It was an odd feeling, but he found her appearance oddly attractive.

"That would be me."

"My name is Naoto Shirogane. As you have probably already deduced, I am indeed a detective, but I ask you save your Sherlock Holmes jokes."

_And here I was ready to say "No shit, Sherlock."_

"Wow, looks like you've definitely done your homework if you already know I have a tendency to make wisecracks."

"I wouldn't be much of a detective if I didn't, Chidori-san."

"I'm not much for formalities, so you can call me Motou."

"I see. Well then, Motou-san, feel free to call me whatever variation of my name and title as you please, so I can return the favor."

"Alright then, Miss Detective."

Naoto chuckled lightly.

"Motou-san, I will be frank. I'm here to help you awaken your Persona, as well as your wild card ability."

_How the HELL does she know about that?_

"If you're wondering how I know about that, for now let's just say I have my own sources. But like I said, we have more important things to do. Follow me."

"Wait just a sec, Miss Detective..."

"Yes?"

"...Could I at least grab something to eat?"

* * *

Naoto took Motou to her office, which wasn't too far from campus. Since most private colleges have some kind of high-end police station nearby, Gekkoukan University wasn't any different. Motou was quite intrigued at the numerous things in Naoto's office. All along the walls were different pictures of Naoto with other people that looked like her friends, probably taken back when she was in high school. There were also newspaper articles and pictures posted on the walls of very famous criminals and serial killers, although all of the pictures included Naoto standing proudly next to them before they were brought into bars.

_Looks like she's a pretty established detective._

"Motou-san, I'd like to ask you a very interesting question. Please, take a seat."

Naoto and Motou made themselves comfortable. Motou settled into his chair while Naoto promptly took her place at her desk. She lit up her pipe for a quick puff.

"Alright Miss Detective: shoot."

"What percentage of your brain do you think you're using right now?"

"Oh, I've been asked this question before. As a psychology major I'm well aware of the '10% myth,' so I can say I am not using 100% of my brain, but over the course of the day I probably would have used about 100%. In response to your actual question, I have no idea."

"I figured as much. Neuroscientists have tried several ways to 'measure' brain activity and have published several studies in looking at the brain areas. Simply put, you can say the two big divisions in brain usage range from being awake to being asleep."

"Yeah, I've heard of that. I suppose you're going to tell me we use a lot of brain power during our sleep, right?"

"Not just 'a lot' of brain power. Try 'a nearly unmeasurable' amount of brain power."

Naoto took the pipe out of her mouth for a moment.

"Motou-san, what I am about to tell you should not leave the office. To say it's 'highly classified information' would be a bit of an understatement."

Motou wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but he nodded anyway. If Naoto already knew about the Wild Card and Persona, then he figured it would only get more interesting from here on out anyway.

"Despite what researchers have publicly released to the public, the scientists at the Kirijo Group have found much more potential in dreams and the subconscious than modern science can ever imagine. What we currently consider '100% brain activity' is estimated to be a drop in the bucket compared to what the Kirijo Group has found the human brain capable of doing during the REM state of sleep."

"You mean dreams, right?"

"Yes. To further explore the potential of the human mind, the Kirijo Group has spent years creating a machine that serves as an active gateway to people's dreams. In fact, one of the units is right in front of us."

Naoto had been referring to the briefcase on the desk. She opened the briefcase, taking a moment to look at the contents inside, and then turned the briefcase to Motou. It was a miraculously simple machine in design; it had 4 tubes and several wires coming from the center. Everything else that was probably used for the functioning of the machine was well hidden behind the metal plating of the small machine.

"So what do you call this thing?"

"For simplicity we call this the 'Dream Machine.'"

"Hah! Seems like a fitting name."

"It most certainly is. This machine allows people to jump into a person's mind when they dream. In this case, I'm going to be in _your _dream."

"_My _dream? Don't I have to be asleep first? It's not like...I'm...tired..."

* * *

Motou woke up to the sound of the ocean waves crashing against his body, the feeling of the cold water against his face, and the smell of the salt water up his nose. He couldn't believe it when he came to, but he was on a beach.

"Hey Dad! Come on! You're not scared to swim, are you?"

But it wasn't just any beach. Motou watched a young boy run into the water, happily splashing everywhere. He was followed shortly by a tall man, who Motou recognized just as quickly as he recognized the small child.

_This is the beach my father took me to all the time._

Motou stood up and waved. The child-like version of himself didn't see him, and neither did his father. It felt as if he were watching a replay of his childhood memories.

"I usually don't spike drinks, but it was the quickest way for you to fall asleep. Granted I spiked my own drink as well to be able to join you here."

Motou looked over to the sand area. Naoto had been sitting quite comfortably on a beach chair, observing the entire scene. It was a bit confusing at first since she was wearing the same clothes she wore in the office, but in a few seconds Motou realized what was going on.

"So I guess I'm dreaming, huh?"

"That's correct."

Motou walked over to Naoto and sat down next to her on the sand.

"So why am I looking at my memories? Aren't I supposed to be dreaming of zombies or naked girls?"

"Perhaps, but not in this case. When operating the Dream Machine, there is usually an architect that can create the container of the dream, and it's up to the dreamer to fill that container up with his subconscious. That means fitting everything in there: memories, emotions, hopes, fears, etc."

"I see. So let me guess...you designed the container for my dream to be a walk down memory lane, right?"

"Yes."

"And here we are, where I'm looking at a childhood memory."

Motou and Naoto spent a few minutes watching the child Motou playing with his father. They stopped playing when they heard a yell coming from a small umbrella near the sand area. A woman was waving over to the child and the man. They ran over to her to enjoy a small beach picnic. It was a simple lunch on a simple beach on a simple day, yet the three of them looked as if they were enjoying the best day of their lives.

"Hah...my mother's here too. This was our first family trip together to the beach."

Naoto smiled wryly.

"My records mentioned that your parents were divorced; your father is missing and your mother is deceased."

Motou was impressed that Naoto said that frankly, although he could tell she wasn't looking at him when she said that. Motou looked away from the family, towards the ocean.

"...Yeah. Sounds about right."

After a moment's silence, Naoto stood up.

"Well, Motou-san, we're heading out."

Motou turned to Naoto to ask "where," but no sooner did he turn he saw an elevator not too far from where they were sitting. The doors opened up, almost inviting them inside. Without much thought, Motou got up and followed Naoto into the elevator. As the doors closed, he notice that there were several numbers which indicated the "floors." Currently they were on floor 10. Naoto pressed the B1 level button. The elevator jolted slightly before slowly descending.

"These different levels are memories that stand out in your mind. The deeper we go down, the further we go into your subconscious. As you can imagine, the deeper we go, the more repressed the memory is."

"I see..."

"The floor that we're going to is key for the awakening of your Persona, although that's all I know about that destination. I respect your privacy enough to not to peek into that part of your life."

"Thanks, Miss Detective. I appreciate it."

The elevator stopped at floor B1.

"You're on your own from here. I'll be waiting on the 'other side' once you're done."

The doors opened, and Motou stepped out of the elevator. He found himself inside an all too familiar setting; his house. As the doors closed behind him, he looked around to figure out where he was in his memory timeline. He was in his family's living room, but it was a mess. To be more accurate, it looked like an angry hurricane came by the house. All the pictures on the wall were now on the floor, smashed into bits and pieces. Chairs were misplaced or broken, the couch was flipped over, and even the walls had large holes the size of fists scattered across the room.

_Could this be the time where...?_

The sound of a woman crying gave him the final confirmation he needed. He ran to the hallway to find his mother crying. Compared to the happy image earlier, she now was fallen and spiritually broken upon the ground. The door was wide open to the cold night outside. He saw no one else but his mother, but he looked at the key rack near the wall. There were three spots for keys, and he noticed the spot on the far left side was empty. He didn't need to see any more to remember where he was.

"The night Dad left."

Motou stood there in silence, watching his mother cry. He remembered when his mother told him the news the next morning, it was at that moment he promised her to not let her cry anymore. He would always tell her jokes to keep her happy, and he tried hard everyday to take care of her when she needed help. Motou did everything he could, but even he could not stop his mother form diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"This is probably one of the main reasons why she didn't hold on..."

It was two painful years after his father left that she was diagnosed, and another two years until she passed away. He remembered how during those last moments, he used every single derogatory word he could think of to describe his father, to say it was all his fault. Even through all of that hate, he remembered how she stroked his hair and told him one thing.

"Forgive him. She told me to forgive him."

Without much thought he punched the wall next to him, creating another hole.

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I FORGIVE THAT BASTARD?"

Every single day after his father left, Motou swore that he would become a better man than his father. He never wanted to be associated with him, and he would always find the negative qualities his father had and tried to be vastly different from him. For him, Motou felt dirty simply by having his father's blood running through his veins, and his genes in his DNA.

"I...I..."

"...I want to kill him."

Motou turned around to find the child version of himself at the stairs. This time he was in complete shock because the child wasn't talking to his mother; the child Motou was talking directly to him!

"What?"

"Even though Mommy loved him, and wanted me to forgive him, I hated him. Look at what he did. Look at what he became. Nothing good came out of him. I could never forgive him."

His mother's cries reacted to the child's statement and got even worse, to the point where she was coughing up blood.

"I wish Daddy were dead."

"No...STOP!"

Motou couldn't believe it; he was watching his own hatred for his father slowly kill his mother.

"Is this what I really think? Is this what I really feel deep down inside?"

"...You know the truth, don't you?"

Motou looked at the child Motou directly in the eyes.

"What?"

"That night before Mommy died...when she asked you to forgive him. You looked at her and said 'Yes.'"

"Oh God..."

"But I remember very well. She looked sad because she knew...you were lying through your teeth."

"No..."

"...And that's why Mommy died."

"NO!"

Motou fell to the ground and broke down completely. He felt pitiful, weak, broken...but the tears wouldn't stop. He felt as if he were a monster not worthy of his mother's love, or even of life.

"...You're weak."

Motou looked up in horror as the child-like version of himself was engulfed by darkness. It grew larger, changing shape into a gruesome being. What Motou thought was the body was nothing but a blob with multiple limbs randomly assorted in places around the body. It wore a frightening purple mask with the number 0 on it.

"You don't deserve Mommy. You don't deserve life. You should die."

Motou stared into the face of despair, which was what this Shadow was. He honestly felt like giving up right then and there, until he felt his crying mother grab his hand. She looked at Motou, with tears in her eyes.

"...Forgive him...forgive...yourself."

_Forgive myself?_

Motou looked at the Shadow once more.

_I did want him to die. I couldn't bring myself to forgive him. I won't deny these feelings...but she wanted me to forgive him. She wanted me to do what he couldn't do for both of us...she wanted me to able to forgive him and love him. To thank him for bringing me into this world, and to my mother. She wanted me to be the better man...and forgive him. To accept his mistakes...and overcome them._

"Mom...thank you."

His mother smiled as her body began to disappear, gathering into a bright light. The light felt pure and secure. Motou reached out to it, and it transformed into a blue card. The back of the card had the picture of a mask, while the other side was blank. He held the card in front of his face it glowed with a bright light and changed into a mask. He heard a voice.

**I am Thou**

**Thou art I**

**Face your dreams**

**And awaken the reality within...**

**Hee ho!**

Motou smiled confidently, brimming with power.

"Per...so...na."

He thrust the mask onto his face as a dark aura erupted out of his body. He could feel the power to stand up to his fears and his doubts flow through his veins. He felt as if as long as he wore this mask, he could stand up to his darkness lurking within his subconscious. He bellowed the name of his Persona with triumph.

"Come forth! **Black Frost**!"

The Persona known as Black Frost materialized above Motou. It was a short, stubby creature with a jester-like hat and dark skin. While it radiated with the powers of darkness, its playful nature added to its cheery disposition, making it the perfect counter to any serious, evil Shadow.

"I am Black Frost! Hee ho, pleasure to meet you, Motou-ho!"

"Even if there are these feelings of darkness within my heart, I'll accept them and overcome them. From there I'll find my strength! Let's do this, Black Frost!"

The Shadow did not waste any time lunging towards Motou. It drew several small blades from its body, attempting to stab him. Motou skillfully leaped to the side, avoiding the Shadow's attack.

"Now!"

"Already on it, hee-ho! Take this! Bufu-ho!"

Black Frost pointed his finger at the Shadow and shot a stream of icy wind. The Shadow could only watch as it was slowly frozen solid.

"Sorry, but this isn't going to be a nightmare. End it, Black Frost!"

Black Frost raised both hands over his head, gathering energy into a massive ball of fire.

"Agilao-hee-ho!"

With a swift throw, Black Frost lobbed the massive ball of fire as it erupted against the frozen Shadow. He did a good job of taking out half of the room with the attack, but not even ashes were left of the Shadow. When the smoke cleared, Black Frost did a small victory dance before phasing out. The mask that Motou wore shattered into many pieces, which slowly formed back into a Tarot card. This time, however, Motou notice the side that was originally blank now had a picture of Black Frost on it.

"Persona, huh? Cool beans."

It was at that time Motou decided to head back into the elevator and ride it to the top floor. When the doors opened, he saw nothing but bright light.

* * *

"Good morning, sunshine."

Naoto smiled as Motou woke up, rubbing his eyes. He noticed that one of the wires connected to the machine had been hook up to his arm. As he removed it, he noticed that another wire near Naoto. He figured it was probably attached to her not too long ago, either.

"That was a pretty radical dream..."

"I'm sure it was. You still have the card, I assume?"

Motou didn't realize Naoto was referring to the Tarot card at first. After he did realize it, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Tarot card. Needless to say, he was shocked.

"Perfect. You've been able to successfully awaken your Persona. Now you're ready for the next step."

Motou looked at Naoto with a puzzled look.

"The next step?"

"Yes. I'm sure Nanako and Yuuta told you about dinner plans, right? What they didn't tell you was it was going to be with me, another important person, and the rest of the team."

"Team? What team?"

Naoto smiled lightly.

"I'll explain it when we're there. Besides, aren't you late for your class?"

Motou looked at his watch: his class started three minutes ago.

**Awakening End**

**

* * *

**Thanks again for reading! This story is coming out rather well, so I hope you're all enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. Feedback is very much appreciated, and thanks in advance!


	3. The Dream Team

Thanks for the feedback so far! I appreciate your comments. Glad you guys are liking it so far, and I hope this chapter makes it even more interesting.

* * *

**The Dream Team**

"Sorry I'm late; traffic was a bitch."

"Well, at least you had the decency to show up to class. Please have a seat."

Motou sighed deeply as he took his seat. After running like hell from the police station, he didn't really have time to check how much time had passed since then. The professor didn't seem to be angry, despite the fact that he rolled in quite late, most likely interrupting her lecture or discussion. He figured since it was the first day it wouldn't be that important, but he felt a bit guilty for showing up late and disrespecting the professor.

"Now then students...class is dismissed."

_What?_

The rest of the students got up and began to leave. Some of them were chuckling at Motou, who was still sitting at his desk, flabbergasted.

The professor couldn't help but giggle. She motioned for Motou to meet her at her desk. Upon closer inspection, Motou noticed she had brown hair down to her shoulder length. It was kept very well, and it made her look younger than she probably was; Motou's initial guess would be late 20's, but her voice and speech suggested she was probably closer to her late 30's, despite looking pretty young. She wore a pink blouse and a black skirt, with silver earrings to match.

"Chidori-san, right?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"My name is Isako Toriumi. Of course, you may refer to me as Professor Toriumi."

"Nice you meet you, Professor."

"Since you weren't here at the beginning of class, you didn't hear me mention that I was only going to cover the syllabus, and then the rest of the class was dismissed afterwards. You just had the fortune of showing up right at the end of my explanation."

"Impeccable timing, right?"

"I suppose so, Chidori-san. I can only imagine how perfect your timing might be if you were to show up at the beginning of class."

Professor Toriumi handed Motou the syllabus.

"As a college student, I'm sure you're quite able to read and comprehend that document yourself. I'm not in the mood to repeat myself, but I'm sure you'll be fine, right?"

"Absolutely, Professor Toriumi. I'll read the syllabus carefully."

"Well, that's quite fine. Anyway, I better get going. You ought to do the same, Chidori-san. Enjoy your free time; life's short, right?"

"Well said, Professor. I'll be on time for next class."

As Motou was walking out of the classroom, he noticed that Professor Toriumi had a keychain of a particular creature from some old MMORPG. He had submitted a research paper on the history of MMORPGs for his culture class, but the name of the game escaped him at the moment.

* * *

With most of his classes over, Motou decided to relax a bit at the local cafe. Since Nanako and Yuuta still had classes, he figured this would be time to absorb everything that had been going on in the past 24 hours. He still had a hard time believing all of this was going on during the first day of college!

_Dreams, Wild Cards, Personas...and classes._

Motou took a long sip of tea. He didn't know whether to be excited or frightened that all of these weird accordances were happening with him. He wondered what did do he do in the past to deserve all of this? Or was this random chance? Or perhaps destiny?

_Nah, I'm thinking way too large right now...I need to chill._

Motou sighed deeply and leaned into his seat. Until the dinner tonight, he told himself he will try to do as many normal college things as possible before being bombarded by more nonsense tonight. In a way he felt like nothing he knew was every going to be the same again...but then again, how could he not?

"...Are you even _listening?"_

The irritated voice of a young woman broke Motou's thoughts for a split second.

"Uh..."

"Christ, you're absolutely and utterly dull. You haven't been following what I've been trying to say at all. You know, that makes you the fourth boy today who has tried to ask me out for coffee. I gave you the benefit of the doubt since you _seemed _like you actually had a functional brain, but I apologize for being assumptive. I didn't realize that the only boys I've met so far are only interested in staring at my BREASTS all day."

"Uh...uh...I'm...sorry?"

"...Really? That's all you have to say? Pathetic."

Motou turned around to check out the scene. A couple of tables behind him a couple of students from the university were drinking coffee together. At least they _were_ a few minutes ago before the young woman decided to call it quits. Judging by her appearance she was an American foreign exchange unit, although her Japanese was as sharp as a katana. She had a combination of curly and braided blonde hair; needless to say Motou hadn't seen the two pulled off in quite that fashion before, all kept in order with a red bandana. The bandana had a picture of a pitchfork with a heart on it, bleeding roses. She wore a red tank top with a black denim jacket, along with a matching black skirt. Her crimson boots completed the ensemble.

"But I..."

"Please. Just be a good boy and _leave._"

To Motou's surprise the young man accompanying her got up from his seat and swiftly left the cafe, holding back tears of shame. The young woman scoffed and continued drinking her coffee, pulling out a book to read instead. Motou sighed and got out of his chair, taking his tea with him, and walked over to sit right across from the young woman. She didn't even look up from her book when she spoke.

"Not interested."

Motou smiled.

"Not offering."

The young woman paused for a moment, not expecting that answer. She looked up at Motou, still leaving her book open. He could feel her blue eyes running thousands of scans on him.

"Then what, may I ask, kind of business do you have sitting across from me?"

"Straight to business? Sheesh, you move pretty fast. That's probably why you scared the crap out of the last guy there."

"He wasn't really worth the time. I'll give him a C+ for actually asking me out politely, unlike the other bozos I met today, but once we got here all he did was avoid eye contact while I was trying to start a conversation. Instead of looking at my eyes he was busy looking at my chest."

"Didn't seem like he was just checking your goods, though. I think the guy was just scared shitless, avoiding eye contact."

"Well he shouldn't have assumed I was an easygoing girl. Since he was so caught off guard I suppose he was speechless, and couldn't even communicate anything to me. Not worth my time."

"That's too bad. You barely gave him a chance."

"My time is precious. If you can't show me your worth in 30 seconds, you aren't worth it."

"Your time is precious, huh? What are you reading, exactly?"

She held up her book. Motou didn't pay much attention to the title as much as the name of the author.

"Freud. Psychology major?"

"Clinical, yes."

"Let me guess...planning to be a shrink? Treat people with psychological disorders and all that jazz?"

"Mostly. I take it you're a psychology major as well...but there's something else. Business?"

"International Business, yeah. Good read!"

"Well, it wasn't too hard to judge. For one you recognized the author's name with a bit more respect than what most people think of Freud, and you can pick up social cues quite easily, but your mannerisms suggest a blend of casualty and professionalism. Even though we're in Japan, you're speaking to me in a similar way an American would, especially by using the body language you've been showing me, as opposed to the stiff Japanese boys I've met. Am I right or am I right?"

"Yeah, you're pretty good. I'd say you're pretty well versed in most of the major psychologists, and the real reason you're reading the Freud book is mostly because you're _rereading _it, probably because it enforces some of the interactions you've been having with the opposite sex as of late. Since you're aware of the possibly unconscious sex drives some guys might have, you're quick to be aggressive, blowing away any smoke they might put up as a way to get into your pants. Of course you're not interested in that; you're probably just trying to find an intelligent guy to have coffee with. Either that, or you take pleasure in breaking down weak-willed guys like the last one. Now I've got my own guess on whether it's the former or the latter, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was both. Right?"

She closed her book.

"Scarlet Fox."

"Motou Chidori."

"I'll call you Motou, since you're not too caught up on formalities."

"I can say the same for you, Scarlet."

Motou was surprised when Scarlet giggled. It wasn't a girly giggle at all; if anything, it was more of an amused kind of chuckle with a hint of sophistication and maturity, but still expressing genuine delight in the situation. He hadn't seen anything like that before.

"You should have met me about ten minutes ago, Motou. We would have had a longer conversation."

"Oh? Are you implying that I'm actually worth your time?"

"Perhaps. But not even your wit can deter me off the next item on my agenda."

Scarlet grabbed a large case under the table and stood up.

"I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again, Motou. Until then."

As she walked away Motou noticed she was holding a large guitar case.

"Geez, she plays guitar too? Who _is _that girl?"

* * *

After finishing his tea in a couple of sips, he left the cafe and began walking to the student plaza area. Even though dinner was in a couple of hours, he felt like getting a snack beforehand. He figured awakening his Persona by going through his dream made him much hungrier than usual, so he felt like getting some bread.

_Alright, so let's see if a detective stops me out of nowhere again. If not, then I might be able to make it to the plaza area for once!_

Before he could wonder if he jinxed himself or not, he noticed a small group of students up ahead. From the looks of things it was about 6 people total, but it was really a group of 5 guys and one lone guy. As Motou got closer, he realized they were from Gekkoukan University. He remembered those five guys being in the front row of the orientation ceremony, which was usually reserved for either the really bright or really rich kids, and from the looks of things he knew it was the latter. What was interesting was the sixth guy; he was a tall man of African descent, who quite easily stuck out compared to the Japanese guys in front of him. He had fantastic dreadlocks shooting out of his head. He sported a light-green jacket with a black beater underneath, complete with silver sweatpants. Motou could tell from their body language the five guys weren't being friendly.

"You've got quite some nerve talking to us like that. Do you know my father works for the government? I bet you want to apologize now that you know that, huh?"

"...Not really."

"WHAT?"

The leader of the five stepped closer to confront lone man, only to realize just how short he was in comparison. He still kept his cocky face on, although Motou could see he was slightly trembling.

"You...you better apologize! Besides, there are five of us! You see, all of our fathers are definitely in a higher position than your lousy family! I don't care if you're a foreign exchange student in our university...and here I thought affirmative action in the U.S. was over!"

Motou quickly interjected.

"Yo! Kishimoto-san!"

The leader of the five snobs looked over to Motou.

"What? How do you know my name?"

"Who wouldn't know you? You're the son of the famous former secretary to the Prime Minister."

"Hah! See! Someone knows the value behind my name."

"Yeah...anyway, I didn't mean you interrupt you guys, but I just saw your father not too long ago."

The young Kishimoto suddenly went stiff.

"_What?"_

"Yeah, he said he was looking for his son. Not going to lie, he seemed _pissed. _I just wanted to give you a heads up, since he was looking for you and your buddies."

One of snob Kishimoto's cronies whispered to him.

"Hey, I think he knows about your _stuff _dude..."

"Crap! We better get out of here before my dad kills me!"

Completely ignoring Motou and the man they were just trying to pick on, the five snobs ran towards the apartments near campus. After the coast was clear, Motou walked over to the tall African student.

"Sorry I came in. Didn't want anyone getting hurt, you know?"

"...You mean those guys, right?"

"Yeah. I figured you'd take out all five in a flash, but that'd be kind of troublesome for you on the first day of classes, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. Nice bluff, though. I'm surprised they were stupid enough to fall for it."

"Money buy a lot of things, but you can tell when someone hasn't got enough common sense. You see enough of these trust-fund babies of figure out what their buttons are, so then it becomes a fun game to push them."

They both laughed.

"The name's Motou Chidori."

"I'm Rock Jackson."

They shared a firm handshake.

"Rock, huh? Sounds solid."

Rock couldn't help but smirk.

"You're a pretty quick with words."

"And you look like you kick ass on a daily basis. Capoeira?"

"Yeah. Toss in some kick-boxing and you've got most of it. How'd you guess? I hope you're not racial profiling."

"I'd be lying if I said your ethnicity didn't narrow down some options, but most of my guess was based on the fact that you were in a position to be prepared to kick all of their faces in."

"Haha, sounds about right."

"Maybe you could show me a few moves?"

"If you're up for it, although it'll have to be later. I got somewhere I need to be in a bit."

"Gotcha. Catch you later, Rock."

"See you, Motou."

The man known as Rock began walking to the parking lot. As Motou turned to finally get some bread, he was going over all the interesting things that happened to him today, from being in the Velvet Room to meeting some eccentric foreign exchange students. The day wasn't even over, and he had a feeling things were about to get more interesting.

* * *

"You've got to me kidding me..."

Motou stood outside of the dorm complex he _used _to live in. He watched as men in black suits were carrying most of his stuff out and putting it inside a _huge _Hummer Limo. Before he could ponder how most of his stuff was able to fit in there, he saw Yuuta talking to some of the men putting the stuff inside the car. Apparently they were moving out Yuuta's belongings as well as Motou's.

"Yo! Motou!"

Yuuta walked over to Motou and patted him on the back.

"Looks like you got the tip, right? Turns out this dinner is going to be in our _new _dorm complex...apparently it's a private one for us..._special _people."

"I have a billion questions to ask...but I assumed they're all going to be answered tonight by someone who knows for sure, right?"

"Yeah. Hey man, I got my own bag of curiosities as well, but I'm holding them off for now. Not gonna lie though...it's like we're in a RPG, dude! Special powers and stuff...oh _man, _I bet we're going to save the world or something!"

"Hey, Yuuta, not so loud; we don't anyone to think we're crazy or anything."

"Eh, I guess you're right. Anyway, I hear Nanako is on the team as well. That makes three people so far, and I hear there's two more people on the team, although I got no clue who they are."

"Well, I suppose we'll find out in due time."

"I hope they're _hot_ chicks, dude. You can take Nanako if you want...but I want my threesome with the other two girls! Or if Nanako feels like it, maybe she can join too! Sorry, but you wouldn't be able to jump in."

"Heh, I think I'll be fine Yuuta."

Motou and Yuuta made their way to the Hummer Limo, clarifying with the men in suits last minute move-out details before getting into the car and being whisked to the new dorm complex. The drive was roughly 10 minutes away, but eventually they arrived.

"You know, I was expecting some kind of mansion or something..."

"Come on now, Yuuta, we can't exactly be so special that the whole world would know where we're staying, right?"

"I dunno. We could at least have a Bat Signal or something..."

The dorm complex looked amazingly normal in comparison to Yuuta's imaginations. There was nothing wrong with it; Motou thought it actually looked like a nice place. It seemed like a typical apartment or dorm complex any person would stay at. The only odd image was the normal building juxtaposed with many men dressed in suits carrying things in as if it were a high-end mansion. Once they got over the confusion, Motou and Yuuta walked inside the building.

"Looks pretty cosy, actually. T.V. right there, some kind of check-in desk there, standard table for everybody...oh _dude! _They got an open bar! Motou, I'm liking this place already!"

Indeed, the open bar was right next to the living room table. The bathrooms weren't too far from the bar either, which Motou thought was a smart move. Near the T.V. there were several couches and a small table in the center. All in all Motou thought it was a very spacious and comfortable living room.

"Excuse me, gentlemen."

Motou and Yuuta turned around in response to one of the men in suits speaking with them.

"The dinner is being held on the fourth floor. We will have your belongings put into your respective rooms, but please make your way to the fourth floor conference room, please."

"Will do. Thanks!"

Motou and Yuuta wasted no time walking up the stairs. As they passed by the floors, they noticed the second floor was the men's and the third floor was the women's floors (indicated by the single-sex bathrooms). There were also vending machines neatly positioned near the bathrooms, which Motou thought was another ingenious placement. When they finally reached the fourth floor, they opened the door to the conference room.

"Hey! You guys made it! Come sit down."

Nanako waved to Motou and Yuuta to come sit down. The table in front of them was a very neat round table, well decorated with plates and fine china. Everything was mostly white, except for the black roses in the center of the table. As Motou and Yuuta took their seats, Motou couldn't help but be surprised by the other two team members that were sitting around the table.

"Small world, huh?"

"Indeed. Although I expected there was something peculiar about you."

The two other team members were none other than Rock Jackson and Scarlet Fox, respectively.

"Motou-kun, have you met Rock and Scarlet already?"

"Yeah. Believe or not I met both of them on separate occasions before the meeting."

"Well, since Motou has already met these two, I'll just go ahead and introduce _myself! _ Now if you excuse me..."

Yuuta wasted no time rushing over to Scarlet to hit on her.

"So your name is Scarlet, huh? It suits you well...you know, I happen to like the color red and-"

"Yuuta, was it? If I didn't know I was working with you, I would have taken this salad fork and stick it up a place where the sun doesn't shine. I might also use the dinner knife to ensure that you wouldn't be seeing anymore _action _for the rest of your days if I felt so inclined to use it."

"Aw, playing hard to get? I like that in a woman..."

Motou wasn't sure if it was either Yuuta's attraction to Scarlet or Scarlet's seething rage that was making Yuuta's glasses fog up, but before Motou could stop Scarlet from castrating Yuuta, the doors opened up once again.

"Good evening. I'd like for you all to sit down so we can get started."

Yuuta's attention quickly shifted over to the elegant red-headed woman who entered into the room. She wore a very dynamic black skirt with a matching jacket, topped off with a white blouse. While there was nothing flashy about her outfit, her mere presence demanded attention in the room. Yuuta found himself unconsciously sitting down, as the rest of the team had already done. Following the woman was a gray-haired man dressed in a black dress shirt and matching pants. The only thing that wasn't black was the undone red tie he wore. He was carrying his jacket slung over one arm, as if it wasn't meant to be worn. He looked very serious and determined, which made Yuuta gulp. Last but not least, the ace detective Naoto Shirogane followed after both of them as they took their seats at the head of the table. Or at least to the students it seemed like the head of the table; since the table was round there really wasn't a "head."

"Again, I'd like to thank you all for joining us tonight. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. As you may realize, I am the current president of the Kirijo Group. But please, don't let my position make you nervous; otherwise you wouldn't be able to eat, now would you?"

"Hah, I don't think you're helping them relax, Mitsuru. Anyway, my name is Akihiko Sanada. I've been working with the Kirijo Group recently as of late, but I used to be a well-established cop and boxing champ."

"And I've individually met all of you already, but to reintroduce myself, I am Naoto Shirogane. While I am the chief detective in Inaba, I have been working with the Kirijo Group for this special case."

The students all nodded their heads to the three authoritative figures at the name, briefly throwing out their "Nice to meet you" statements. While the food was being served, Mitsuru began to speak again.

"I'm sure you all have questions regarding your newfound powers, and why the Kirijo Group has asked for all of your help. I intend to disclose all of the information you should know tonight to clear up any misconceptions, as you all have an important decision to make tonight."

The room was dead silent.

"...But I suppose we should eat first, right?"

"Man, that was a great meal! What do you think, Scarlet-chan?"

"Indeed, the food was superb. However, I suggest you stop patting your belly like Santa Claus, Yuuta; it's disgusting."

"Oh, so you're calling me by my first name? I'm honored."

"I don't usually do formalities, but since we're working together I'll call you by your first name. Just don't expect me to sleep with you."

"Hey Scarlet-chan, I didn't even _get_ there yet..."

Nanako groaned while Rock and Motou chuckled. The dinner had put them all in high spirits, since they spent some of the time eating and some of the time socializing, introducing each other and also sharing some stories. Despite the conglomerate of different personalities and faces, all five of these young people seemed to gel well together, much like a team should, and they didn't even work together yet.

"I hope you all enjoyed the food. I made sure you had the finest served to you tonight. However, it is time to official get down to business."

The female president of the Kirijo Group stood up and walked over to the large painting near the table. With two knocks on the wall, the painting opened up to reveal a very large flat-screen monitor. Yuuta nearly drooled at the width of the entire thing. The part of the wall below the monitor flipped open to reveal an extensive touchscreen keyboard easily the size and length of five standard keyboards. Needless to say the wall had a hidden command center-style computer inside of it.

"Wow! That's way bigger than the T.V. back at my house."

"Of course your T.V. is smaller, Nanako! Although I got to say, this thing makes mine look puny, though..."

"Well, you decided to be a cheapskate, Yuuta, going for the clearance sale T.V..."

"It's still a good T.V., Motou! It's just pre-owned, that's all..."

Mitsuru cleared her throat to hush up everyone. As soon as everyone was ready, she began. The monitor came to life as the touchscreen keyboard lit up. On the monitor the only thing that was displayed was "P5," in big black letters.

"I'm sure you've all figured out that you're 'special people,' gathered together as a team for a specific purpose. You're all part of the P5 Project; we look for young people such as yourselves who display a vast amount of Potential."

"Potential?"

"Yes, Rock; Potential. We refer to this when we mean the ability to engage in your subconscious, or other people's subconscious, in a dream-like state. Normal human beings can dream, but few people can sustain themselves long enough in the dream state, which is why normally dreams feel quite short, and are hard to remember for most people. Those with a high amount of Potential, such as yourselves, have all been able to dream vividly, given the correct cues and stimuli."

"So we're big-time dreamers, huh?"

"I suppose you can say that, Motou-kun. When I mean 'engage in your subconscious,' I mean tapping into your deepest thoughts and secrets. The raw emotions that are stored within this part of your subconscious are a very powerful force. It can be so negative that it will manifest into a Shadow if your psyche is strong enough. This is the case for all five of you, in which your subconscious manifested itself in its strongest form: a Shadow."

The five nodded in unison.

"However, because you have the ability to turn the darkest parts of your subconscious into a Shadow, you also have the ability to use a part of your psyche to counter the Shadow and face your subconscious. By using your Potential to actively engage your subconscious, you create a different entity in your psyche called a Persona. Think of it as a facade or a mask to wear when facing your own subconscious thoughts, desires, and fears."

"Would it be comparable to the Id, Ego, and Superego parts of the psyche, like Freud suggested?"

"While it is a bit more complicated than that, it is split similarly, Motou. Why don't we use that theory as an analogy, since everyone seems to know it?"

Everyone shook their head in agreement...except Yuuta.

"If any of you have ever read _Lord of the Flies _then it should be clear, but I will explain it using rather simple terminology. Think of the Id as the bad side of yourself, the one that acts on absolute impulse. For example, Yuuta, it's been clear you've been hitting on Scarlet this entire night. The Id Yuuta would want to rip off her clothes and proceed to take her right here on the table."

"Hey now, don't give me any ideas..."

Scarlet promptly kicked Yuuta's shin under the table. Needless to say he left an enormous amount of pain...but he continued to listen.

"The Superego side if you is much like the controlled and moral side of you. It responds well to order and bound by laws, always reasoning to do the 'right' thing. It would tell you that it would be indecent to take Scarlet and try to rape her."

"Hey! It wouldn't be rape because she'd willingly consent. Right?"

This time Scarlet karate-chopped Yuuta in the neck, throwing him into a coughing fit. It took him a few seconds to recover before listening again.

"Now, the Ego part of you is the mediator between both the Id and the Superego, which is comparable to yourself as you are now. Whenever you engage in any activity, Freud theorized that it is always a battle between the desires of our Id and the rules of our Superego, in which the Ego referees."

"Oh, I get it."

"Very good. Now let's use that concept to explain Shadows and Personas. Think of the Shadow as the Id part of yourself; it is made up of the darkest fears and desires hidden deep within your subconscious. The Superego would be the Persona, created to counter the dark feelings of your Shadow. As you are right now in the conscious state, that is your Ego."

"I think I get it...although I guess I can see why it's not as straightforward as Freud's thing."

"Good to know you're on the same page as us, Yuuta. Now then, I will explain how the Dream World works very quickly before tying these two concepts together."

"I feel like I should be taking notes..."

"No need, Rock, unless you have a horrible case of amnesia. You'll be able to experience this first-hand in due time so you'll be able to learn 'hands-on' as well."

"Sounds good."

"Now then, in the Dream World, you are you. This is obvious. However, the people you see in the dream are not really other people; they are projections of your subconscious. Do you ever wonder why you see certain people more than others in your dreams? That's because you may be consciously thinking of them, and then those thoughts are carried over into your subconscious for dreaming, _especially _if they are heavily tied with your emotions."

"Much like the person you love the most."

"...Or hate the most."

"Nanako and Motou are both correct. The danger with having such strong projections is that they can appear in _other _people's dreams, which is very possible for you five, since your subconscious is already at a very advanced level. While that is a concern, my main point lies in the fact that strong thoughts in the subconscious are tied with _emotions."_

Mitsuru paused for a moment before continuing.

"Have any of you ever heard of 'inception' before?"

"I have. It's the concept of creating and planting an idea inside of another person, right?"

"Yes, you're correct Scarlet."

"Well if that was the case would I be doing that inception stuff by asking all of you guys to not think of pink ponies?"

"Right, Yuuta. By doing that we would all be thinking of pink ponies, but notice how the idea isn't ours to begin with; we received that idea from you, specifically your sentence. Inception is the implanting of a new idea, but it occurs _within _the same person. Yet that idea is clearly not the person's own idea, now is it? It's the implanter's idea."

"I see. But how is that even possible to put an idea in somebody without it coming from you?"

"Good question, Rock. Inception is only possible if you influence a positive or negative emotion inside a person so strongly that they create an idea from that basic emotion; this occurs deep within the subconscious. This level of depth is the Dream World."

"So basically you got to get somebody super pissed or super happy to have them get an idea implanted in their brain without it coming from you, right?"

"Although put in a rather juvenile fashion...yes, you are correct, Yuuta."

"So what does this have to do with our Personas?"

"With the concept of inception, it is possible to amplify a normal person's emotions tenfold if done correctly. By doing so their subconscious would be strengthened exponentially, and thus a radical new idea would be formed if the correct emotion is stimulated in a certain way. This idea would reinforced the already amplified subconscious even further, until it becomes a Shadow."

"But I thought normal people couldn't turn their subconscious into Shadows?"

"Normally they can't, but with inception and the correct method, it's possible. The problem lies in the fact that normal people don't have the Potential to create a Persona to balance that Shadow, and thus they are eaten alive by their own subconscious."

"Whoa..."

"Which brings me to the main point. There is a certain individual we are tracking that is perfect capable of inception, and has been planting ideas within certain people to drive them to do peculiar acts. After this incidence they are put into a coma for a number of days before they end up dead. We call this person the 'Comatose Killer.'"

Akihiko spoke up.

"The Kirijo Group finished developing the Dream Machine last year, in which there were already seven odd cases discovered in China. Until recently we've been seeing the move from there to the U.S., and then currently in Japan."

"So how did you know those cases were connected, and not just come crazy people doing stuff before they go into a coma and die?"

Naoto pulled out a pictures from an envelope and scattered them on the table.

"Before the victims fell into their coma, they all had drawn these types of pictures."

As the five students looked on in shock, they weren't sure what to make of the pictures drawn. They all looked like colored pictures a child would draw with crayons, but all of them were pictures of a man with a sheep head holding a noose. Of course there were several variations, most likely drawn by the different people, but they all had the common image of the sheep man.

"Is this supposed to be the Comatose Killer, Miss Detective?"

"Perhaps, but we're not entirely sure. It's only been recently that we've been able to get into the dreams of the comatose before they are dead; my partner Kanji and I investigated the last victim known as Kazuya Saito, and we were able to make it out with the idea that was planted in his head. Apparently the Comatose Killer told him to 'leave it all behind.' This was translated to Saito putting his company into bankruptcy, causing a major riot in Japan. Thousands of people lost jobs, and the companies that relied on Saito Industries fell apart as well. It put the economy into a rather bad state since his company was so huge. In these past few months we've recovering, but barely. I'm sure you all saw this on the news months ago."

"Yeah. Didn't Saito die about a month ago?"

"Yes, it was just last month he passed away. From what we can tell we aren't sure when the victim falls into the coma after the 'curious incident.' The trend we've been seeing, however, is a decreasing timeline, so victims are falling into their comas much sooner."

Akihiko spoke up.

"Going off Naoto's point, that's why we wanted to organize you guys into a team like this. The idea is for you to enter these comatose victim's dreams and retrieve the idea planted in their minds so we can piece together who the comatose killer is. The other goal is that since you guys can use your Personas, we think you guys got a shot to actually save these people by defeating the Shadows the killer creates from the victim's subconscious using inception."

"I see. So by defeating the Shadows in the victims, their subconscious would subside back to the normal level, and they wouldn't die anymore, right?"

"Yeah, you got it right, Scarlet. In fact...I'm willing to bet my boxing championship belt that they'd wake up from their coma as well. I think it's worth a shot, and quite frankly it's our last effort to catch this guy."

"Whoa, that's pretty cool! So like, we're the Dream Police, or something?"

"Yuuta, that's a horrible team name."

"Well what do _you _have in mind, Motou?"

"I dunno...why not something like the 'Dream Team'?"

Mitsuru chuckled lightly.

"Until now we've been calling you the 'P5 Team,' but I think 'Dream Team' has a nice catch to it. But please understand that this will involve risking your life; by actively jumping into the unstable dreams of the victims, you run the risk of corroding your own mind and possibly falling into a coma yourself, which may result in death afterwards. I won't force you into this position, but each of you has awakened a very special power. I beseech you all to use it."

It didn't take much time for the team to decide.

"I'm in."

"This is a very interesting proposition... I accept wholeheartedly."

"Yes, I'll do it. I want to save these people!"

"Oh _hell yeah _I'm in! We're like superheroes now!"

"Well, if these guys are in, then so am I."

Rock, Scarlet, Nanako, Yuuta, and Motou all respectively expressed their desire to join. Mitsuru and Akihiko couldn't help but smile, since their resolve reminded them of their S.E.E.S. days.

"Thank you all. From this day forward, I would like to formally introduce the Kirijo Group's new team devoted to solving the case of the Comatose Killer: the Dream Team."

Everyone stood up and applauded. Akihiko went to go get the champagne to celebrate, while everyone was getting for dessert to roll in.

"So, when do we start?"

**The Dream Team End**

**

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Once again, I enjoy hearing feedback from you guys, such as the things I'm doing right or wrong. The next chapter might take a bit more time since I have things outside of the fanfic on my mind, such as papers and exams, so I'm letting you guys know in advance. If I'm good (or bad) at balancing things, the next chapter might be out in a few days, or it might take a week or so. See you until then!


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